This system relates to magnetic navigation of medical devices in the body, and in particular to a system for applying a magnetic field of selected direction to an operating region in a subject's body to orient a magnetically responsive medical device.
Magnetic navigation of medical devices has significantly improved to ability of medical professionals to control medical devices in the body. Early magnetic navigation techniques involved the use of superconducting magnets. While these techniques were, and remain, highly effective, advances in permanent magnetic materials and in the design of permanent magnets, have made it possible to use permanent magnets for magnetic navigation. While the magnetic fields created by superconducting magnets can be readily changed by changing the currents in the superconducting electromagnetic coils, in order to change the magnetic field created by permanent magnets for navigation, it is generally necessary to change the position and/or orientation of the permanent magnet. In order to accurately control the magnetic field applied by permanent magnets, it is necessary to accurately control the position and/or orientation of the permanent magnet.